The present invention relates to the field of agricultural implements and in particular to a multiple row pneumatic seed planter having a rotary seed drum.
Multiple row pneumatic seed planters with a rotary seed drum like that shown by Bauman et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,146 have been helpful in increasing farm productivity. The assignee of the Bauman et al. patent, International Harvester Company, has incorporated that invention into its Case IH 800 and 900 Series Cyclo Air Planters. In general, air planters are hitched and pulled behind a conventional farm tractor. The planter has a transverse frame supported by a plurality of wheels with a seed storage bin which feeds the seeds into one or more rotary drums. The inside of the drum has a plurality of circular rows of depressions. Each depression has a seed retaining perforation formed therein which passes through the circumference of the drum. The perforations are slightly smaller than the seeds.
An airblower forces air outwardly from inside the drum and out the perforations. Seeds from the storage bin are fed into the drum and gravity urges them toward its bottom. As the drum rotates in a counterclockwise direction (when viewed from behind the planter) most of the seeds fall away from the inside wall of the drum, with the exception of those in the depressions. As the drum continues to rotate toward a twelve o'clock position, centrifugal force and the force of the air blown around the individual seeds and out the perforation overcome gravity to suspend the seeds in the depression. This phenomena is described as radial pneumatic bias by Bauman et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,146.
At a further advanced position of drum rotation, the rollers of a discharge means cover all the rows of perforations as they pass. When the perforations are covered, the radial pneumatic bias which holds the associated seeds is disrupted and the seeds are dislodged. Seeds fall inside the drum and into a corresponding manifold for each row. The seeds are then conducted by conventional means to the planting rows.
These planters can efficiently plant from four to 24 rows of seed crops in one pass, depending on the number of rotary drums on the planter and the rows of seed retaining perforations thereon. However, few fields are perfectly square and open on all sides to accommodate turning the tractor and planter around. Farmers often make use of end rows, terracing, and other techniques to utilize their land fully and optimize yields. Such planting patterns present some problems for the conventional multiple row planter. When the farmer turns the tractor with planter attached around in the end row, or other already planted area, it would be desirable to shutoff a portion of the planter. Additional seed would not be planted there. This would avoid increasing the density of seed planted in that area. Yields in the end rows and other rows where overlapping occurs would not suffer due to overpopulation.
Therefore, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a seed drum row shutoff for a planter which gives the operator the flexibility to reduce overplanting in point rows, end rows, partial rows, and between terraces by shutting off more than one row of the planter at a time.
Another object of this invention is to provide a seed drum row shutoff which conserves seed by reducing overplanting in point rows, end rows, partial rows, and between terraces.
Another object of this invention is to provide a seed drum row shutoff which is simple and easy to install either as original equipment or as an accessory to an existing planter.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a seed drum row shutoff which allows the operator to increase yields by avoiding plant overpopulation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a seed drum shutoff which diverts the supply of seeds destined for more than one planting element by releasing the seeds from the drum periphery before they reach the manifold of the discharge means.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a seed drum shutoff which is movably mounted external to the seed drum such that the seed drum, discharge means, and planting elements are still readily accessible and removable.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a seed drum shutoff which is movable against the exterior of the drum when an electric solenoid is energized by a switch in a control box remotely mounted in the cab of the tractor pulling the planter.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a seed drum shutoff which the operator can use to selectively shut off the right or left side of a four to twenty-four row planter.